good morning, and welcome to "this week." with 23 days to go, stalemate. >> i want to send a very clear message. i will not play that game. >> the president digs in. the speaker battles back. >> the president is just my way or the highway, that's not the way to get to an agreement. >> is a deal still possible on the fis calf cliff? what will this brinksmanship mean for you? we'll get the decisions with our roundtable. then our powerhouse roundtable weighs in on that and all of the week's politics.

>> conservatives on the hill are counting on us. and the supreme court court takes on dwa marriage. we'll break it all down with george will, james carville and mary matalin. paul krugman of "new york times" and abc's own matthew dowd . hello, again, just over three weeks away from that fiscal cliff, we gave off a week of press conferences, symbolic votes in senate, less than an hour of serious negotiating. what will it take to break the stalemate? we'll get into that this morning. with two big roundtables of elected officials. the lawmakers. senator tom coburn for the republicans and deb jie stabenow for the democrats. and congressman hen sarlg.

he said that for there to be a big deal, tax rates on the wealthy are going to have to go up. >> again, as the speaker has said, unfortunately what we see out of the president my highway or the high wway. one dollar revenue for 2.5 of spending reductions. now, after the election, it's a little bit of bait and switch. now he's asking for $1.6 trillion. for every one dollar of tax increase there's about 20 cents of spending reduction. >> i'm talking about the rates. if the rates go up, can the republicans accept that? >> no rep wants to vote for a rate tax increase. what that's going to do, is cause 700,000 americans to go from having paychecks to unemployment checks because of what that's going to do to the

economy, hardworking americans are going to see a 2% reduction in their paycheck if they keep them. listen, the president, again, if he would do what he said before the election, what the republicans feel like is a little bit like charlie brown running to kick the football and lucy pulls it away. ultimate lit's a spending problem. the american people know it. this talk of taxes is almost irrelevant to the size of the trillions and trillions of debt. >> senator coburn, you say, senator, that you could sign on to a tax rate increase provided that the president and the democrats come guard with significant spending cuts and entitlement reform. what will it take for you to sign on to a tax rate increase? >> significant entitlement reform. the real problem, the president is proposing 7% of the solution. what we have been working on the other 93%. even if you do what he wants to

do on tax rates, you only affect 7% of the deficit. we have spend ourselves into a hole and we're not going to raise taxes, borrow money and get out of it. will i accept a tax increase as part of a deal to actually solve our problems? yes. but the president is negotiating with the wrong people. he needs to be negotiating with our bond holders in china. because if we don't put a creditable plan on this, on the discussion, ultimately, we all lose. >> you got your colleague debbie stabenow, on the your screen as well, can you say quickly what it is going to take? >> well, we got to quit playing the game, george, you can't continue to lie to the american people, there is no way to fix medicare under the guidelines of

aarp that our tax dollars are now advertising to say not fix it. the way we can fix it is to control the cost. the way to control the cost is to have more individual participation. there's a lot of ways to do that. you can't play the game and hide. medicare and social security and medicaid if those aren't fixed if we're not honest about how to fix them and the fact, that, yes, everybody in this country will have to participate in some discomfort if we're going to get out of this hole. as long as we continue to lie to the american people that you can solve this problem without adjusting and working on those programs it is dishonest and beneath anybody in washington. >> senator, stabenow, you heard it right there, medicarmedicarel security, all significant reform, everybody's going to have to sacrifice? >> george, there three parts of the stool here to solve this

problem. one, spending. we've already agreed to trillion dollars in spending reductions. two, medicare and entitlements. we have already agreed to over $700 billion in spending reductions on medicare. starting by cutting overpayments to insurance companies. three, is making sure that the wealthiest in the country contribute to solving the deficit problem. that's whatpassed. for us to continue on this, we have to have the senate bill that continues tax cuts for middle-class americans, that you're going chip in and be part of the solution. the house needs to pass it. that means, we would have done something on each of the areas that my colleagues are talking about. then, we have to take another step on all three of those. but right now, the only thing that we see is middle-class families being asked over and over again to be the ones who have the burden in solving this

problem. and we're saying no. >> your position for now, no more reforms in medicare, medicaid until the middle-class tax cuts are extended. >> is that is your position. >> yes. when i talked to the business fol income my district, the guy who sells furniture up the street they're not asking, oh, what's going to be my tax rate? what's the tax situation? they're looking for customers. part of this crisis that we're talking about is jobs. put americans to work and put americans back in a secure place for their families and corresponding to help the businesses of this nation. i really think that we're doing is ignoring other sources, we're ignoring the loopholes and ignoring all of the breaks that

have happened over a decade-plus. we're asking the middle class, the elderly, the poor, to carry the brunt of the mistakes that were made 10, 12 years ago. >> closing deductioning in loopholes for the wealthy. another thing that he's going to put on the table, congressman hensarli hensarling. he's not going to negotiate over the debt limit. two big bottom lines for the president. i have been around capitol hill for a long time. it's hard to see with those two big absolutes out there that you can get this done by december 31st, is there a fallback position right now for the republicans? >> i didn't know that the president can surprise me once again. in other words, we no longer need a speed bump on the highway to bankruptcy, i mean, let's look at greece, greece has been very adept at increasing their debt ceiling.

now they have 25% unemployment. there are people who can't even finds jobs in cities are having to move out according to press reports to rural areas. that could be our future. as tom said, if you gave the president every job forming tax increase that he's asked for, it's about 3% of the spending. and the president himself has said that the drivers of our debt are medicare, medicaid and health care. nothing else comes close. >> congresswoman stabenow pointed out -- >> you have to deal with the structural reforms to our entitlement spending. protecting current seniors but helping to insure my 10-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son that these programs are around for them. >> medicare savings, lot of

republicans not you but a lot of republicans in the last campaign including mitt romney ran against. >> well, george, first of all, the $700 billion in savings doesn't save the government a penny, it takes that and spends it on other people. what -- it's really important that people look. the government is twice the size it was 11 years ago, we have seen the president demand that we're going to solve 7% of this problem but he's totally inflexible on the other 93%. it doesn't matter what happens at the end of this year, because ultimately, the numbers and the bond holders throughout the world will determine what we'll spend and what we won't. we can play the political game that is being played out in washington right now. or we could actually be absolutely honest with the american people, social security bankrupt in two years, social

security trust fund will be bankrupt in five years, social security total will be bankrupt in probably 16, 17 years. those are worst-case scenarios by the trustees of both those organizations. we can play those games. but the fact is, we're spending money that we don't have on things that we don't absolutely need and there's no grown-ups in washington that will say time-out, stop the politics, let's have a compromise rather than to continue play the game through the press and hurt the country. we're going to get another debt downgrade from what's happening now because no one in positions of power is willing to do what's important and necessary for our country. >> you know what, george, if i might just jump in, george, on that one, social security isn't going bankrupt, we're making reforms in medicare, in fact the cost of medicare advantage has gone down by 7% for seniors because what we have done.

but what's going to happen at the end of the year if the house doesn't act, the middle-class families will see a tax increase. at least $2200 per person. that's four months groceries for one family. that's a lot of talk. i agree with my colleagues. one thing that's very clear, at the end of this year, if the house of representatives does not pass the middle-class tax cut we're going to see middle-class families across this country paying at least $2200 more in taxes that they can't afford. all because they're trying to protect the wealthiest few from getting another ronald of tax cuts that we can't afford. >> i want to bring in another congressman grijalva. no extension of unemployment benefits.

the sequester kicks in. the president will have no more leverage after that fact, isn't that true sf. >> i think the leverage is there for the president. i really do. i'm happy the president and the democrats are not negotiating with themselves this round. they're actually negotiating with people that are in a position in the house to make the decisions. and, if the middle class is -- if that's the vote we take, that's a good vote that's a step toward in the direction. but, i think that one of the issues that's being left alone in this whole discussion is the amnesia of how we got into this situation, who's responsible for the situation? and to blame the three programs that we're talking about, medicare, medicaid and social security as the drivers of this deficit a mistake. the drivers happened long ago. two wars and a credit card, financial institutions that took -- abused the american people and now we're being asked to go back to the same people

who endured this crisis and ask them to pay up again. no, no. >> thanks for coming in today. our powerhouse roundtable is coming right up. their take on the fiscal cliff stalemate in just 90 seconds. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about low-cost investing. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 at schwab, we're committed to offering you tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 low-cost investment options-- tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 like our exchange traded funds, or etfs tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 which now have the lowest tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 operating expenses tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 in their respective tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 lipper categories. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 lower than spdr tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and even lower than vanguard. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 that means with schwab, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 your portfolio has tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 a better chance to grow. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and you can trade all our etfs online, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 commission-free, from your schwab account. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so let's talk about saving money, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with schwab etfs. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 schwab etfs now have the lowest operating expenses tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 in their respective lipper categories. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-800-4schwab

tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 or visit schwab.com tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 to open an account today. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 funding is easy tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with schwab mobile deposit. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 investors should consider tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 carefully information tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 contained in the prospectus, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 including investment objectives, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 risks, charges, and expenses. you can obtain tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 a prospectus by visiting tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 www.schwab.com/schwabetfs. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 please read the prospectus tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 carefully before investing. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 you won't take our future. even babies. chevron is working to stop mother-to-child transmission. our employees and their families are part of the fight. and we're winning. at chevron nigeria, we haven't had a reported case in 12 years. aids is strong. aids is strong. but we are stronger. and aids... ♪ aids is going to lose. aids is going to lose. ♪ ♪ gangnam style

>> getting on youtube so that you can see "gangnam style." ♪ gangnam style >> go out and sign people up. >> who knew that alan simpson could dance "gangnam style." he's part of this big debate on the fiscal cliff. george will, paul krugman of the "new york times." abc's matthew dowd and my favorites james carville and mary matalin. george, we heard the lawmakers there as far apart as ever with just 23 days to go, is there any way out of it? >> conceptually, we're dealing here with splittable differences. we in our country had

unsplittable differences. differences that you couldn't compromise on. this is doable. the problem is, george, since the second world war, our politics has been about allocating abundance. now, we're allocating scarcity. we're not very good at it. the real problem in the country today isn't the divisions that we talked so much about it's a consensus. as broad the republic, as deep the grand canyon, we should have a generous welfare state and not pay for >> it oh, boy. >> paul krugman sf. >> it's not just numbers. we have a basic difference in outlook. the republicans are unable to make concrete proposals. if you look, all of that talk that we just heard, deficits in china and greece, all of the talk that about how to deal with

this, they put out numbers. all of things that concretely mentioned, all of their actual proposed spending cuts, raising the medicare age, it's about $300 billion. >> on the wealthy? >> yeah, it's tiny. what they put on the table is almost nothing. all of the rest is big talk. how is the president to negotiate with people who say, here are my demands? >> that's the point that the white house keeps making, mary, they can't give the republicans what they don't ask for. >> that's completely -- the republicans have offered in theory and sfpecificity. raise $1.7 trillion over ten years. we have been very specific. professor -- >> that kills charitable

deductions. >> are you an awe toms no -- >> we had two different ways of going forward. we will not have medicare or social security, senior democrat dick durbin saying associate security isn't costing a problem. medicare, medicaid and social security aren't the drivers of this deficit. what these guys should do, coburn is right, this is meaningless, they should even given him 98% or they should do what president clinton propose is like it extend it for three months and let the new congress. let the new congress. the outgoing congress that lost is making -- >> they're the ones that voted for it. >> first of all, what we want to do, we want to raise taxes. we want to raise tax rates. when you say when you want to

close loopholes that does not count. that's a generic thing. are you going to close charitable, state and local deductions. what is that you're going to do. the generic statement is it doesn't count. we're very clear about what we want to do. we're not enhancing revenues. we're talking about raising taxes. >> when hensarling was talking, he said that the president hasn't proposed cuts. the stuff that's looking forward, there are major medicare spending cuts, mostly falling on providers not on beneficiaries. there are a lot of detail in there. >> for fes so, if you cut a provider, that doesn't cut beneficiary. is that an economic reality? if you cut provider you're going to cut a beneficiary. >> you know i have spent a lot of time out in the country. i was in norfolk talking this,

this is not a fiscal problem, this is a leadership problem, if you watch what happens right before we came on, the american public sees that and says what's going on in washington? what values do we stand for as a country? with both sides basically taking out positions where american puck lick is a pawn on both sides of this, if both sides sat down and asked themselves what values do we stand for? what do we represent? do we represent a value of shared sacrifice, balanced budget and fiscal responsibility? we try to convey values to the american public so that we say this is what we stand before. >> every time the value of shared sacrifice is presented to the american public, it's rejected. >> because they keep telling the american people, you can have

your cake and eat it, too. >> you know, this is exactly what we're doing. we are giving the american people $10 worth of government and charging them about $6.50 for it. of course it's a good deal. we have made big government cheap. it seems to me, paul, first of all, you may not like the ryan budget. but, the house has twice passed the ryan budget and sent it to the senate. they could have acted on it. >> because the ryan budget is filled with magic asterisks, too. it's a fake document. the fact that he doesn't actually present the budget. >> well, look, i have yet to encounter someone who disagrees with you that seems they're corrupt. specifics have indeed have been offered. the question is, are the american people, rhetorically conservative and operationally

liberal? >> george, i wrote a book about this. we haven't grown incomes in this country since the '70s. people have watched tax cuts come, bailouts come, right now, after the election, you're the cause of this. we're going to -- you know, if they cut medicare and social security without really laying a predica predica predicate, why am i paying for these mistakes? i have no growth in my income. and the top 1% has had 250%. >> that's half-true. that's half-true. the other side, those who are at fault are the rich people. you won't have to share sacrifice if we just tax the rich more. both sides have to come to the conclusion if we want to tell the american public that balance

in your checkbook is a good idea, personal responsibility is a good idea, helping your community is a good idea. washington, d.c., ought to act on all of the same values. >> but, people who are going to a lot of those shadow values, worked hard and played by the rules and saw their income stagnant or go down, they saw the deficit go up and stau bad decisions being made, they're not overly happy about it and i can't blame them. >> it presents a political problem for the republicans, mary, the tax increase for the 98%. that happens on january 1st. it does seem very difficult. you'll get all of this resolved by the december 31st. >> that makes my point. i'm taking the clinton position here, that to try to with the president repeatedly wasting week after week after week to have a political -- to be able to blame the republicans

politically for this, that's the problem, all of the structural debt is a problem. we do have declining wages. they have declined faster under the obama recovery under the bush "recession" that's the whole separate problem. you can't just take this piecemeal. republicans will have a problem if they pitch late on your problem. the reality in the world the republicans, while we're looking dismal at the federal level have won the majority of the govern ships and in those cases they're lowering taxes. they are flattening the tax rates. they're creating jobs and growing their economies at twice the rate of this lunacy that the president continues to pursue. >> we have a short-run problem, purely a political problem about

this fiscal cliff. it has nothing to do with the bondholder and the debt. we should work on that. we got to take a break. lots more roundtable. why did the tea party star quit the senate. what does it mean for the gop? what's next for hillary? twenty-three billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger. that retiring some day is even an option for sean and me. how'd you get comfortable enough to know you could really do it? well, planning, of course. and we got a lot of good advice. a few years ago, your mom and i put some money into a pacific life fixed annuity.

it guarantees us an income for the rest of our lives, whether social security is all there or not. hey, hey! ♪ [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] to learn more about a guaranteed lifetime income from pacific life, visit pacificlife.com. a guaranteed lifetime income from pacific life, i have obligations. cute tobligations, but obligations.g. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core,

building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal. roundtable hasn't stopped talking. lots more coming up. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future.

since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪ bp has paid overthe people of bp twenty-threeitment to the gulf. billion dollars together for your future. to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come.

our commitment has never been stronger.

i'm actual lly forward to returning living a life that enjoys a lot of simple pleasures, gives me time for family and friends. >> marco is joining an elite group of past participants of this reward two of us so far. i'll see you at the reunion dinner table for two. >> paul, thank you for your invitation in iowa and new hampshire. but i will not stand by and watch the people of south carolina ignore it. >> the joking and the jockeying have already begun for 2016. let me reintroduce the

roundtable. george will, paul krugman, matthew dowd, james carville and mary matalin. the supreme court took two big gay marriages. they took up the proposition 8 case that banned gay marriage in california. they get the underlining question is gay marriage is a guaranteed right? >> peter finley dunn, great american humorist, his character famously said the supreme court follows the election returns. it came 31 days after election day in which three states for the first time endorsed same-sex marriage at the ballot box, never happened before, maine, maryland and the state of washington, the question is, how will that influence the court? it could make them say it's not

necessary for us to go here. they don't want to do what they did with abortion. the court yanked the subject of public discourse. on the other hand, they could say it's now safe to look at this because there's something like an emerging consensus. the opposition of gay marriage is dying. >> james carville, right now at least, split the difference position that george argued, 41 states still outlaw gay marriage. >> right. it depends on whether they're going to allow this to happen. the election just matters in profound ways, look at salt lake city, the mormon church after the election said, well, maybe we're going to change our position on home sexuality is a choice you're not born that way.

it reverberates all of the way through society. i can't believe that they took this up. the fact that they took it up, it believes they're going to uphold some of these. >> mary, not just the election, the trend has been pretty clear over the last dozen years. i want to show this pew poll back in 2001, 57% of the country opposed gay marriage, only 35% were for. this year the lines have crossed. 48% approaching. going above 50%. support gay marriage in the country. >> well, because americans have common sense. important constitutional, ideology call questions. people living in the real world, the greatest threat are the hetero sexuals who don't get

married and create babies. that's more problematic for our culture than home sexuals getting married. in real life, looking down 30 years from now, real people understand the consequences of so many babies being born out of wedlo wedlock. >> it was a wider gap in 2004 gay marriage was a losing thing for democrats in 2004 is now a winning thing. eight years, this country has changed dramatically. i think it's actually a positive. because this is a significant bloc of voters that will make a difference. >> to me, the consensus has emerged on this issue. is the supreme court going to catch up or get ahead of it? i mean if you take a look at this, there's still a division in the country over this issue.

no division in the country under 35 years old on this issue. i have a perfect example. my son went in the army, they asked him ten years before, raised that hands, who's for gay, 80%. when he got in, five, six years, they were for gays in the military. to me, we still, you till have to know that there's a huge group of folks in this country that believe this issue not ready to be established. they're over 35. go to church regularly. but in the end, this issue five years from now, more settled. >> george will, that's still the president's position, he didn't come out with a complete federal solution, he didn't say it was a right guaranteed by the constitution. >> married law is proregular tif

of the state. a new york woman married in canada her female partner, they lived together 44 years. the partner dies, because the partner wasn't a man, the woman is hit with $363,000 tax bill from the federal government, there are a thousand or more federal laws or programs that are at stake here and the more the welfare state envelops here in regulations and benefits the more equal protection argument weighs in and maybe -- >> it's hard to see how the supreme court will allow them to continue deny those benefits. senator jim demint of south carolina left the senate to become the head of the heritage foundation, it created a big questio question. >> i believe that i can do more good for the conservative

movement outside of the senate. >> well, i think it's safe to say boehner is not forcing either of you guys out, right? >> that's pretty true. >> it might work a little bit the other way, rush. >> mary, do you think demint made the right choice to have more influence? >> yes, absolutely. our hero once said, ideas drive history. ideas drive progress. and heritage has long been a vaunt of so many good ideas. they're respected. we find in congress, it's a piecemeal process. these guys have big ideas and big frameworks, he has a conservative, that was a brilliant move, a good move for us, a brilliant move for him and it also leaves nikki haley to

fulfill her vision of legislative reform and real economic reform by appointing someone like tim scott. >> the only african-american in the senate right now. >> the actual quote, ideas for good are evil. what does this do to heritage? this is sort of taking the think out of the think tank? this is turning -- >> george, you were there at the beginning, sort of, at the heritage foundation. >> 40 years ago this year i was crucial to establishing heritage because i was working for senator, a republican from colorado, a letter came from joe coors, very generous, i got a quarter of a million dollars and i want to do something to

december seminate conservative ideas. i was out of the office that day. which was a good thing. i went to the press secretary, a young man who knew exactly what to do with it. a few years later, they opened up the heritage foundation. an important part of conservatism building an alternative infrastructure. liberals have the media, act dima and hollywood. >> the interesting part of the infrak struck cher is when dick armey left, he left with $7 million severance package. senator demint this is a guy who thought that unmarried

schoolteachers. >> he had big influence in the senate. >> he had big influence. he's a very gutsy guy. he was gutsy, i'll give him that. >> first thing, his biggest influence was keeping the majority in the senate. but let me make a bigger point, i think is actually a very sad commentary on our politics today. because, here you have a guy that was a well established u.s. senator with tremendous amount of experience in a group of body that was supposed to respected in the body. he leaves that and becomes a head of a think tank, it is ende epidemic in our political world, their best route to success is to work for super pacs.

people's success in politics i'm going to hold office and do something good, they now think they can't do that anymore in washington. >> yeah, i mean, the all that really matters for the most part in congress whether you have a r or d after your name. he can have more influence by moving off to the heritage foundation. >> the real debate of where the republicans go after the election, there were two serious speeches this week by paul ryan and marco rubio at the american enterprise institute where they took on that challenge. >> both parties tend to divide americans into our voters and their voters. let's be really clear. republicans must steer far clear of that trap. >> i have heard it suggested that the problem is that the american people have changed. that too many people want things from government.

but i'm still convinced that the overwhelming majority of our people just want what my parents had, a chance. >> george will, i think marco used the phrase, middle-class, more than two dozen times in that speech. >> usually the forgotten middle class and it's all we talk about. the republicans' problem is the national problem, the sense of stagnation among americans who are not on the ladder of upward mobility. health care costs and the cost of that which puts you on the ladder, the cost of college. in four, five weeks, we are going to pass a milestone, a trillion dollars of student debt. 2/3 of kids leave college with student debt, average $29,000 a person. they're graduating from college with a mortgage already. how are they going to buy

houses, form families and everything else? >> making sure there were at lo more transparency as kids are taking out those lones. >> sure. i thought that what was striking by both speeches, we need to reach out to lower-income working americans, tax cuts for the rich are actually good for them. no sub substantiate tif policy change in either speech. it was amazing stuff. >> well the gop isn't a very difficult position. because the american country has changed and the republican brand and their candidates today don't match where the country is, fundamentally the american electorate looks much different. wait a second, mary. fundamentally different than american -- i think they need to stake out a ground that we not only look different but we're going to say things different. they have to run against

washington and run against wall street. they have to become the party of the middle class and whether they look at marco rubio or governor chris christie, their brand has to change to win the election. >> mary? >> one of those guys don't look like normal problems. ideas are dangerous for good or evil. can i just say we're missing the reality here, the federal office aren't the entirety of our problem. we have mayors who are making progress in all kinds of states and all kinds of different people are stepping up to run for office. rubio and ryan are very deep in policy. policies have been reflected in huge successes in indiana and wisconsin and across the country and everywhere republicans hold the govern ship. >> two speeches, written, a

nice-looking guy, take a good shot. they had a vote, they had a vote and it was a treaty that dick thornburg negotiated that bush pushed through, that everybody was about how you treat disabled people, it was enforceable. swunl said, if you pass this, they're going to break into your house and you won't be able to home school your kids if you have ramp. republicans voted against this. if they can give a speech when it comes time to vote and the same thing comes back, they need to break out, i think the vote was the most illustrious thing of the week. >> as mary suggests, the country is mixed in its views right now. michigan the fifth highest unionization rate, the fifth highest unemployment rate in the country may become the 23rd

right to work state. my suggestion, matt, wall street, main street, and all the rest, i i'll know that the republican party is on the way back from breaking up the biggest banks. >> absolutely. i don't know whether the gop sold to wall street or vice versa in this last election. clearly, wall street tends to be relatively democratic in the past. now it's that close to the republican party right now. meanwhile, we got front page of "new york times" this morning, look at it right here, hillary clinton, 2016, all of her choices hinge on that. we did a poll at abc news, 57% of the country right now would support hillary clinton for president. james carville, you worked closely with her for many years, no one knows what she's going to

do, the point is, every decision she makes now, she has to look through the prism of that bigger decision. >> since 1974, sitting here, republicans have craved order. we have been people fell in love we're looking for the next argument. this is entirely different. every democrat i know, hope she runs. the republicans they need a fight. somebody has to beat somebody. you got to beat somebody good. you got to go through the difficult processes. >> you got to beat somebody. >> the republicans know that they need a primary. we don't want to be slugging this thing out. she's popular. let's go with it. the pressure is going to be nor

mouse. >> well, the idea that this defies. i love hillary. i wish she would run. democrats even though they are redistributionist and you toppians would not be competitive, others waiting in the wing, would have a dynasties. they'll have another clinton step up? further more, the democratic party is split. 17% of them are extremely lib rals and the rest of them are centrists. the senators that are running are centrists. the ones that just got elected with centrists. >> she bridges that divide right now. >> what's happened is, the extreme liberals, i guess i talk to a lot of those guys, they're also pragmatic.

they would see hillary clinton as someone who could continue to make incremental progress toward what they want. >> i do think -- the whole race of 2016 pivots off of her. it will pivot off of her. republicans are going to pivot off of what she does. this is a moment where we're going to have a dominant woman candidate for president. whether hillary clinton runs or not, another woman is going to run. washington is in dire need of women leadership. this country would be served well, whether it's hillary or someone else, a woman candidate emerged. >> junior senator from new york will be that woman who's now occupying hillary's seat. >> and hillary? >> i have no clue and i'm not going to think about presidential elections.

>> i don't know what she's going to do but i do know this, the democrats want her to run. a whole lot of democrats, 90% across the country. we don't -- we just want to win. we think that she's the best person. that's across the board. >> we have one more round coming up. another pro football death overnight? how should the nfl handle its moment of crisis? that's coming up.

music is a universal language. but when i was in an accident... i was worried the health care system spoke a language all its own with unitedhealthcare, i got help that fit my life. information on my phone. connection to doctors who get where i'm from. and tools to estimate what my care may cost.

so i never missed a beat. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

the new tragedy in the nfl tonight. >> how nose tackle josh brent was arrest this morning. >> jovan belcher was supposed to be taking the field tonight for the chiefs. that's not going to happen. police say that jovan belcher killed his girlfriend and then himself in front of koemps. >> what a rough weekend for nfl. the nfl commissioner is on to cover of time magazine. the question is, can roger goodell save the nfl? george, will, are the pressures of pro football worth our cheers? >> it may be a guilty pleasure the way boxing now is, we don't look at boxing the way we used to, because we know what's

happening to brain trauma. in 1980, three nfl players weighed more than 300 pounds. 2011, 352 over 300 pounds. football is played basically within ten yards on other side of the line of scrimmage. these big men are quick as cats. the kinetic energy is such, the body is simply not made for it. last year, 31 of 32 nfl offensive lines averaged more than 300 pounds. i don't think the body is made for it. i think these men are paying a serious price. >> we went to the super bowl in 2013, i'm never going to run for a public office in new orleans. i think he knows that he's dealing with a major problem, he's very upfront with it. eliminating kickoff. >> who think that it's going to happen?

>> three-point stance could be gone. he's up front. it's a huge game. it's a wonderful game. but this is real problem. this head trauma is a real problem. he's not denying it. >> this is a huge problem. i'm going to be upfront. i'm a long-time suffering detroit lion fan. i have three boys, two of them -- i live in austin, texas, home of "friday night lights." my two oldest played football. i think the commissioner is basically, all he's done is window dressing on the flight down here, i sat right no next to earl campbell, dominant force, he had to come on the plane on a wheelchair. his knees were shot.

i don't think the nfl has done their players right or the country right, they haven't dealt with the brain injuries that have happened in this country. they keep doing things that eliminate the kickoff when they know that there's a fundamental problem. >> change isn't going to come from the top down. but come from parents withdrawing from that sport. >> they'll have to be under evaluation. i think he's taking this seriously. >> thank you all very much. now, we honor our fellow americans who serve and sacrifice. this week the pentagon released the names of three soldiers and marines killed in afghanistan. and finally, your voice this week, henry kinch jr. has today's question -- to quote bill clinton the president is always relevant. as commander in chief and chief executive, the most powerful

person in the country, the window for real legislative success generally closes before the midterm elections. presidents have achieved a lot during years five and six. ronald reagan forged a bipartisan compromise on tax reform in his sixth. and bill clinton did the same thing in 1997. send in your questions on twitter and james and mary are going to stick around to answer your tweets for this week's web extra. thank you for sharing part of your sunday with us. check out "world news" with david muir tonight and i'll see you tomorrow on "good morning america."